Metal Hydrides

SOLID-H™ hydrogen storage containers are filled with metal powders that absorb and release hydrogen (metal hydrides). You may already be using metal hydrides in your laptop computer (nickel-metal hydride batteries).

The most popular SOLID-H containers supply a few atmospheres of hydrogen gas pressure at room temperature. This is the safest method known for storing flammable hydrogen gas. If your hydrogen system develops a leak, SOLID-H immediately releases a small fraction of its stored hydrogen. The remainder will be released over a period of hours.

Typical uses for SOLID-H include hydrogen supplies for gas chromatographs and fuel storage for hydrogen engines or fuel cells. A typical SOLID-H container is shown below.

Metal hydrides are the most compact way to store hydrogen (more dense than liquid hydrogen). The internal volume of the CL-400A is less than 0.7 liters. 400 liters of hydrogen capacity is more than 500 times the size of the container!

Standard SOLID-H BL-series containers hold 18, 20, 30, 120, 220 or 740 standard liters of hydrogen gas. These are on the shelf or available on short delivery schedules.

The lower cost SOLID-H CL-series containers, including CL-400 and CL-910, are based on aluminum industrial gas cylinders. These two containers hold 400 and 910 liters of hydrogen respectively. The aluminum cylinders used to make the CL-series are rated for very high pressures. This makes them heavier than equivalent thin walled stainless steel BL-series containers of comparable capacity.

If you need a different capacity or special pressure-temperature specifications, just contact our fuel cell specialistsand we will get back to you as soon as possible.